It takes a team. I have been the only full-time person working exclusively for Shipping Digest for the past five years. But there are many people working for this and the other magazines in The Journal of Commerce Shipper Group -- the JoC, Traffic World, Pacific Shipper, Gulf Shipper and Florida Shipper -- who contribute to what I sometimes call “The Weekly Miracle.” That’s a bit of an exaggeration, but when I express my thanks to Team Shipping Digest -- the dedicated professionals with whom I have the privilege of working -- I am not exaggerating. Because this is our last issue, I want to thank them publicly.
First and foremost, there’s Art Director Sue Boehning. I usually give her some suggestions, but it is Sue who puts it all together, and it is Sue who comes up with the creative ideas that illustrate our stories. She also does the layout. However good the words in a story and the headlines, it is the art that often grabs the reader’s attention first. I will forever be in debt to Sue -- my partner in art and chief collaborator.
Barbara Wyker’s official title is chief of editorial operations, but I just call her the CEO. As the chief copy editor for the JoC, Shipping Digest, Pacific Shipper, Gulf Shipper and Florida Shipper, she gives the pages a final look before they go to the printer to check for style, and more important, to catch any errors. She has caught countless mistakes that could have been quite embarrassing if they appeared in print. Thank you, Barb!
There’s also Laurie Collins, who takes the first swipe at copy editing stories after I’m done with them and before they go to Sue.
Vickie Van Doren handles pre-press production. She also laughs more heartily than anyone else in the office at my jokes -- a most admirable character trait.
Chris Brooks, managing editor of the JoC, is as cool as Barack Obama and the best boss I have ever had. He has given me great freedom to do whatever I want -- especially my quirky and offbeat approach to covering trade and transportation. I’ll always be grateful to him.
Besides my own bylines, the ones that most frequently appear in Shipping Digest are Joseph Bonney, Peter Leach, Bill Mongelluzzo, Alan Field and Bob Edmonson, all of the JoC. They are all superb reporters and writers. The same goes for the reporters and editors of Traffic World.
I pick up many stories from the JoC Web site, thanks to the fine work of Stuart Chirls, editor of JoC Online.
Marsha Salisbury, research editor for the JoC, has been of invaluable assistance many times.
Larry Treat, the JoC’s art director, is Sue Boehning’s boss and guide. He is one of the most creative people I know and pitches in whenever Sue is away.
Shipping Digest could not have stayed afloat for as long as it did without advertising, so my thanks to the ad sales staff -- Noreen Murray, Rob Sadowsky, Walter Magaram, Donalyn Croghan, Craig Wilson, Alli McEntyre, Cindy Cronin, Garnell Shumate, Abbie Feibush, and Jeanelle Baynes. Thanks also to Noelle LaPorta, display advertising traffic coordinator.
As schedules coordinator, Paula Wheeler is in charge of the shipping schedules that fill up most of the black and white pages. She is assisted by schedules coordinators Esperanza Abelairas and Silvia Saad.
Ali Gregory is special projects editor, and Marcy Frank distributes the Shipping Digest Exporter newsletter.
Thanks also to Peter Tirschwell, former editor of the JoC and my former boss, for promoting me to editor of Shipping Digest five years ago.
So thank you all -- and if I forgot anyone whose name I should have mentioned, my apologies!